Electric car travels record 1,000km on single charge

The customised Mira EV travelled at speeds of around 40kph as it drove non-stop around a car racing course in Shimotsuma in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The red and white vehicle, fitted with a special lithium ion battery created by the Japanese company Sanyo, ran for 27.5 hours covering a distance of 1,003km without being recharged.

A total of 17 different people took turns at the wheel of the electric car as it circled repeatedly around the racecourse during the experiment.

The test run was organised by the Japan Electric Vehicle Club, which plans to request that the Guinness World Records officially recognise it as the world's longest electric car journey, according to media reports.

The achievement is timely: Japan and other nations are bracing themselves for an electric car boom as car manufacturers race to produce competitive versions of the environmentally-friendly vehicles.